


Blue Tattoos and Blood

by HarleyEve



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Asexual Character, Borderlands: Borderlands 2, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Development, F/M, Ficlet, POV Multiple, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28373055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarleyEve/pseuds/HarleyEve
Summary: Quick little scenes where Krieg and Maya form their relationship. And the additional character development that happens while Maya is able to be out on her own and Krieg is with a caring group of people. Can't guarantee this will follow the order of the plot.
Relationships: Krieg/Maya (Borderlands)
Kudos: 17





	Blue Tattoos and Blood

“ _WEILD THE REAPER’S SCYTHE!_ ” bellowed Krieg in victory as they both watched a psycho’s head explode in the distance. Maya chuckled and lined up her next shot on a bandit attempting to take cover in a doorway.

“Get ready, big guy. Here they come...” Her next shot rang out against the alarmed bandit, but a swarm of psychos started to rush towards their position as she looked for another distant enemy to pick off. 

“ _MY TONGUE TINGLES for their putrid flesh..._ ” Krieg cocked his gun behind her and Maya smirked. Their excitement feeding into one another until Krieg broke cover first. She watched as he jumped from behind the stone with a bloody war cry to shred the psychos who would do them harm. Maya phaselocked the center psycho to help clear the way with a fiery explosion.  
Krieg had that band of psychos covered, so she focused on the bandits who had organized enough to return fire. Soon enough she joined him in the fray to meet her enemies in person. Krieg’s maniacal laughter rang through the camp as he chased after enemies off in the distance, leaving the stragglers to Maya.

Maya happily took on the chore, until she looked over and saw Krieg getting knocked back by a Nomad dressed in flame retardant. “ _I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT A BADASS IS..._ ”

Maya frowned in concern and phaselocked the Nomad before he could do any more damage. 

Krieg no longer hesitated when his enemies suddenly floated into the air, but he still shouted things like- “ _WHAT A BIG MEATY GIFT FOR A BIG MEATY BOY!_ ” 

By the time the sun fell, the gunfire ceased and the two newly assigned vault hunters holstered their weapons. Maya went off to scavenge supplies while Krieg busied himself creating a fire. When Maya left, Krieg was tearing wood from buildings like pulling bark from a dead tree. When she came back with some provisions and potential upgrades, he was using his shotgun against a makeshift firepit.   
Not at all to his dismay, the force of the shotgun created an explosion of flames charred debris. Maya simply took out her own Maliwan and ignited the firepit. 

Krieg jumped back a bit, then shook his head in frustration. “ _MY FINGERS ARE CURSED WITH THE POWER OF HELLFIRE!_ ” he cried in despair. 

“Don’t worry about it you big oaf. You’re good for plenty of other stuff,” Maya reassured him as she began to dig through her bag for the health syringes she’d found. 

“ _I PILLAGE THE ENEMY! I LIFT THEIR HEADS AND DRINK BLOOD FROM THEIR THROAT PIPES!_ ” Krieg cried triumphantly. 

“Uh. Try again. I did the pillaging,” Maya countered playfully, motioning to the backpack in front of her. “By my count, I’m two for two.”

Krieg drew out his buzzaxe and swung it around. “ _I BATHE THE GROUND IN BLOOD AND FEAR!_ ” 

Maya scoffed and crossed her arms. “Hey you’re not the only one with a reputation for murder. I’m the one with wanted posters posted all over Pandora.”

Krieg stomped his foot. “ _FANCY LEGALITY! THE DEAD IN THE GRAVES DON’T SCREAM!_ ” 

Maya rolled her eyes. “Whatever... I kill just as much as you do.”

“ _I BURROWED DEEP IN THE FLESH AND TORE OUT THEIR INSIDES!_ ”

“Oh yeah? Whose superpower roasted the opening for you so you could get in? Oh, right. Mine.” 

Krieg growled. “ _A BLOODIED BOSS IN MY CORNER! CRIES IN FLAMES OF AGONY!_ ” Krieg argued, recalling the day’s events.

“You’re not the only one who shredded into that boss and you know it!”

“ _THE EYES BURN! FLESH MELTS FROM THE BONE!_ ” Krieg taunted as he mimed clawing at his eyes and throat to drive his point.

“Oh? Like it’s my fault you keep jumping into my acid? It doesn’t take a tactical genius to figure out that you need to keep your distance when you see acid in the air!”

“ _THE BLOODY BUZZAXE THIRSTS!_ ”

“Well maybe you should, I don’t know, consider getting better at using a gun! Then you’d be more useful than some sort of bullet sponge!”

“ _BLUE TATTOOS BLEED SOFT!_ ” Krieg roared.

Maya shot to her feet with her rifle in her hands, her eyes glowing in fury. “Why don’t you try it you overdrugged psycho?” 

Krieg blenched at her and Maya’s heart sank if only for a moment. 

Maya grit her teeth and broke eye contact. “I don’t need this... If you’re so tough, go get your own supplies. I’m going to go make my own camp... not that you did anything here!” she called over her shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Krieg watched her stalk off, but she was too far away by the time the bad words left his throat. 

_Nice going._

“BUT I’M THE BEST BLOOD BOY!”

_Yeah. Go tell her that. I’m sure it’ll go over great._

Krieg fell backwards onto the ground and kicked the ground as he held his temples. “GAH. THE RAGE BOILS THE WORDS AND BURNS THE EARS!”

_Yeah... I think she might have the same problem. I think you just need to apologize._

Krieg immediately froze and turned on his stomach, away from Maya’s direction. 

_Right. Bad word choice. Look, I think you just need to explain it to her._

Krieg grumbled into the dirt and dug his nails into the back of his head. “Ugh. The mind slips like sand through the fingers...”

_I don’t know... I think she’ll understand. She’s had a good track record with you._

“THE TONGUE BURNS AND TURNS TO CHARCOAL?”

_Look I’m not going to make any promises, but I’m not going to lie to you either. I want her to stop being mad as much as you do. She’s our friend and we didn’t want to hurt her... we need to set it right._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Without a meaty psycho at her back, Maya decided on a more covert resting spot in one of the watchtowers about a mile out from the original camp. 

She couldn’t settle in to sleep, though. She felt... guilty about how she left Krieg. First it was just about calling him “an overdrugged psycho,” but the more she tried to rationalize the whole conversation, the more she felt guilty. Even worse, it reminded her of lessons by the monks. Not Brother Sophis, but some of the others who tried to teach her about compassion and patience. About how importance praise is. 

After staring up at the ceiling contemplating her own temper for an hour, Maya heard a familiar gait and frustrated grumbling appeared down the way. She watched in the shadows as he paced back and forth next to the ladder, grumbling to a phantom figure she couldn’t see. It was... charming in a weird sort of way.

Finally she revealed herself, crossing her arms on the railing. “You’re welcome to come up if you want,” she called down. 

Krieg jumped and grabbed his temples immediately. “A _h... CRUELEST FRIENDLY FIRE! RAGE STEAMED THE WORDS AND BROILED THE TONGUE. SHE WRECKS THE HELLSCAPE DEMONS WITH MELTING FLAMING GOODNESS! HER EAGLE EYES STRIKE DEATH AND DELIGHT. MURDEROUS FALLEN ANGEL!_ ”

Maya chuckled. “The flattery is appreciated. Look, I actually… I get it. I’m a little hot-headed too. I guess I… I don’t know.” Maya sighed and resigned the thought. “Hey, you’re forgiven. Why don’t you come up and we’ll talk?”

Krieg, who had up to this point been staring at Maya with wide eyes, turned away and shook his head as if he were shaking off flies.

“What?”

Krieg angled his body away from her and began to tense his body and stomp his foot.

“C’mon. Say it.”

Krieg groaned in frustration. “ _THE KNIFE CUTS TOO DEEP AND BLEEDS TOO LITTLE!_ ”

Maya breathed a laugh. “That’s what happens when friends have a dumb fight. It’s kind of... it’s kind of like getting shot in the ass. It hurts like a bitch, but at the end of the day, no harm done.”

“ _POISON IN THE SOUP BOWL?_ ” 

“Honest. I’m not mad anymore. Just... I don’t know. A little disappointed in the both of us I guess? I mean we’re supposed to be a team and here I am getting worked up because- Look. I’m not trying to get mushy. Feely words aren’t really my thing and I’d like to stop using them, OK? I don’t even know if you’re making sense of any of this...” Maya blurted out while pushing her hair back against her head. 

Krieg started kicking the dirt a bit, seeming to contemplate Maya’s words for a minute. Maya... was done trying to talk so she just waited. Finally Krieg nodded to himself. “ _Alliances formed by scabs and blended brains_ ,” he muttered. Krieg raised his axe and pointed a finger at Maya. “ _AN AXE TO THE HEART and you’re not late..._ ”

Maya breathed a laugh and turned her head away to mask her blush with her bangs. “Enough with the mush...” she joked with a smile. “How about I get my stuff and we go kill something?”

Krieg cackled gleefully. “ _MOONLIT MURDER AND DEATHLY HOWLS!_ ”


End file.
